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This piece seemed kind of interesting and then lost me when it just lead to multi-pargraph heavy handed metaphor, > But Apple’s immune system was suppressed. I

This piece seemed kind of interesting and then lost me when it just lead to multi-pargraph heavy handed metaphor, > But Apple’s immune system was suppressed. It allowed a disruptor to emerge from within. Apple gave birth to its future by suppressing the reaction to that new seemingly parasitic organism. It took an immense willpower to allow this to happen. It's strange that they're criticizing Apple for successfully making a product, the iPhone, that can take off a lot of your PC work, browse/emails/basic things. Clearly Apple is trying forge a distinctly Macbook Pro path for themselves without diving into phone/tablet territory. Until we have more reviews and impressions from the touch bar out in the wild it's a bit early to write off that effort.

na85 10y ago
>Until we have more reviews and impressions from the touch bar out in the wild it's a bit early to write off that effort. Disagree. There is much we can surmise and deduce from what we already know. It runs the WatchOS, which to me seems like a singularly bone-headed decision. Why on earth would they choose to segregate it from the laptop in such a fashion, and use the OS from one of their worst products, to boot? To me these things clearly indicate bad management or lack of vision at the helm.
- elsurudo 10y ago
  From the user's perspective, it doesn't really matter what OS it runs – it should just be seamless. The decision must have made some sort of sense from a hardware perspective. I haven't developed for WatchOS, but I believe its SDK is a simplified version of Cocoa Touch, so it shouldn't be difficult for current iOS/macOS devs to grasp.
  - 0x0 10y ago
    As a mac developer you never even see the watchOS nature of the touch bar. It could have been implemented as a raspberry pi running linux for all the mac developer cares, since it's "just" a framebuffer + multitouch input + probably something related to finger prints and secure enclaves. See https://developer.apple.com/reference/appkit/nstouchbar https://developer.apple.com/reference/appkit/nstouchbar
- marricks 10y ago
  It's short sighted to say "using something from their worst product is a terrible decision." Reasons why it'd make sense to use that processor * it's their lowest power chip with the capabilities * it's already optimized for touch interactions * it has security enclave built in, which is processor specific * it allows for a secure separation between the touch id & the web cam from the processor The last point especially resonates with me. So many web cams get hacked, and getting a wall between the internet and my webcam sounds like a good thing.
  - na85 10y ago
    A company with as many resources as Apple could have integrated the secure enclave into their motherboard design rather than go for this half-baked solution of just slapping an i Watch into the laptop. So much for Apple's vaunted innovation.
    - toasterlovin 10y ago
      Have you ever considered that a company with world class processor and system on a chip expertise might understand this problem space and it's design trade offs better than you?
      - Chyzwar 10y ago
        Have you ever considered that Apple can make mistake. iWatch analogy is correct, touch bar is the same idea for Mac as iWatch to iPhone. We know that iWatch is flop and there is not much enthusiasms for new Mac.
        grzm 10y ago
        "We know that iWatch is flop and there is not much enthusiasms for new Mac." What gives you this impression? Looking at the metrics available, it looks like the Apple Watch is doing well, as is the newest MacBook Pro. "Apple Watch revenue totaled $6 billion in its first 12 months of availability."[0] "Apple Inc. sold twice as many Watches as iPhones in each device’s debut year."[1] "And we are proud to tell you that so far our online store has had more orders for the new MacBook Pro than any other pro notebook before." -- Phil Schiller [2] "The new MacBook Pro has only been available for purchase for about six hours, but shipping estimates on the machine have already slipped from two to three weeks to three to four weeks,"[3] This last could be interpreted as Apple having drastically underestimated the stock they needed to have on hand, purposely limited stock so they could make these kinds of quotes, had supply chain issues that prevented them from having the stock they wanted, or didn't want to have large stock on hand, in preference to more JIT delivery. Happy to be corrected if you have other information. [0]: http://bgr.com/2016/04/26/apple-watch-sales-vs-rolex/ http://bgr.com/2016/04/26/apple-watch-sales-vs-rolex/ [1]: http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-watch-with-sizable-sales-cant-shake-its-critics-1461524901 http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-watch-with-sizable-sales-c... [2]: http://www.macrumors.com/2016/11/02/phil-schiller-new-macbook-pro-interview/ http://www.macrumors.com/2016/11/02/phil-schiller-new-macboo... [3]: http://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/27/macbook-pro-shipping-estimates-begin-slipping/ http://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/27/macbook-pro-shipping-est...
webwielder2 10y ago
I believe you have misunderstood the author's point. He is not criticizing Apple, but rather analyzing how they are managing disrupting themselves while seeking to find ways of making the disrupted product continue to be relevant.
hyperpape 10y ago
He's not criticizing: "Apple gave birth to its future by suppressing the reaction to that new seemingly parasitic organism. It took an immense willpower to allow this to happen." (In addition to that quote, I've listened to several podcasts with him, and he's a huge believer in view that big companies have to be willing to sacrifice their existing products to survive).

na85 10y ago

>Until we have more reviews and impressions from the touch bar out in the wild it's a bit early to write off that effort. Disagree. There is much we can surmise and deduce from what we already know. It runs the WatchOS, which to me seems like a singularly bone-headed decision. Why on earth would they choose to segregate it from the laptop in such a fashion, and use the OS from one of their worst products, to boot? To me these things clearly indicate bad management or lack of vision at the helm.

elsurudo 10y ago
From the user's perspective, it doesn't really matter what OS it runs – it should just be seamless. The decision must have made some sort of sense from a hardware perspective. I haven't developed for WatchOS, but I believe its SDK is a simplified version of Cocoa Touch, so it shouldn't be difficult for current iOS/macOS devs to grasp.
- 0x0 10y ago
  As a mac developer you never even see the watchOS nature of the touch bar. It could have been implemented as a raspberry pi running linux for all the mac developer cares, since it's "just" a framebuffer + multitouch input + probably something related to finger prints and secure enclaves. See https://developer.apple.com/reference/appkit/nstouchbar https://developer.apple.com/reference/appkit/nstouchbar
marricks 10y ago
It's short sighted to say "using something from their worst product is a terrible decision." Reasons why it'd make sense to use that processor * it's their lowest power chip with the capabilities * it's already optimized for touch interactions * it has security enclave built in, which is processor specific * it allows for a secure separation between the touch id & the web cam from the processor The last point especially resonates with me. So many web cams get hacked, and getting a wall between the internet and my webcam sounds like a good thing.
- na85 10y ago
  A company with as many resources as Apple could have integrated the secure enclave into their motherboard design rather than go for this half-baked solution of just slapping an i Watch into the laptop. So much for Apple's vaunted innovation.
  - toasterlovin 10y ago
    Have you ever considered that a company with world class processor and system on a chip expertise might understand this problem space and it's design trade offs better than you?
    - Chyzwar 10y ago
      Have you ever considered that Apple can make mistake. iWatch analogy is correct, touch bar is the same idea for Mac as iWatch to iPhone. We know that iWatch is flop and there is not much enthusiasms for new Mac.
      - grzm 10y ago
        "We know that iWatch is flop and there is not much enthusiasms for new Mac." What gives you this impression? Looking at the metrics available, it looks like the Apple Watch is doing well, as is the newest MacBook Pro. "Apple Watch revenue totaled $6 billion in its first 12 months of availability."[0] "Apple Inc. sold twice as many Watches as iPhones in each device’s debut year."[1] "And we are proud to tell you that so far our online store has had more orders for the new MacBook Pro than any other pro notebook before." -- Phil Schiller [2] "The new MacBook Pro has only been available for purchase for about six hours, but shipping estimates on the machine have already slipped from two to three weeks to three to four weeks,"[3] This last could be interpreted as Apple having drastically underestimated the stock they needed to have on hand, purposely limited stock so they could make these kinds of quotes, had supply chain issues that prevented them from having the stock they wanted, or didn't want to have large stock on hand, in preference to more JIT delivery. Happy to be corrected if you have other information. [0]: http://bgr.com/2016/04/26/apple-watch-sales-vs-rolex/ http://bgr.com/2016/04/26/apple-watch-sales-vs-rolex/ [1]: http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-watch-with-sizable-sales-cant-shake-its-critics-1461524901 http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-watch-with-sizable-sales-c... [2]: http://www.macrumors.com/2016/11/02/phil-schiller-new-macbook-pro-interview/ http://www.macrumors.com/2016/11/02/phil-schiller-new-macboo... [3]: http://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/27/macbook-pro-shipping-estimates-begin-slipping/ http://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/27/macbook-pro-shipping-est...

webwielder2 10y ago

I believe you have misunderstood the author's point. He is not criticizing Apple, but rather analyzing how they are managing disrupting themselves while seeking to find ways of making the disrupted product continue to be relevant.

hyperpape 10y ago

He's not criticizing: "Apple gave birth to its future by suppressing the reaction to that new seemingly parasitic organism. It took an immense willpower to allow this to happen." (In addition to that quote, I've listened to several podcasts with him, and he's a huge believer in view that big companies have to be willing to sacrifice their existing products to survive).